Ikeja traders thrown into total confusion as stakeholders endorse Computer village relocation

This was related to the traders after a closed-door meeting by the stakeholders where issues affecting the Computer Village Community were discussed.

Ikeja traders in great concussion at hearing the endorsement by stakeholders to relocate one of the popular market in Africa, computer village to Katangowa area of Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area.

This was related to the traders after a closed-door meeting by the stakeholders where issues affecting the Computer Village Community were discussed.

According to gathered report, the meeting attended by heads of plazas, officials of trade associations and representatives of the ethnic groups at the market, was an opportunity to resolve the internal wrangling that had slowed down the movement to the new site since April, when the agreement was signed between the Lagos State Government and Bridgeways, the developer.

Apart from endorsing the project, the stakeholders also appointed Mr Ademola Olaifa as the interim chairman and Osy Ijeomah as secretary of the committee set up at the venue to act as a bridge between Bridgeways Global Projects Limited and the village community.

The Chairman, who is also the Public Relations Officer of CAPDAN, described the project as “a viable one, a life-saving project that everybody that is alive wants to identify with. It is a thing we have been struggling for over the years. We are grateful to God Almighty for sparing our lives to witness the taking off of the project.”

Ademola added that the project was a laudable one that would benefit the Computer Village, the Lagos State Government and Nigeria as a whole.

The Chief Executive Officer, Bridgeways, Mr Jimmy Onyemenam, said the essence of the meeting was to establish an all-inclusive vehicle that would serve as coordinator through which the developer could interface with the residents of the market.

He said, “

At the moment, the project is on the verge of flagging off, with the state government commencing a lot of expansion work, by the clearing of the site and to hand over the site to us; we expect that to commence anytime from now. On Monday, we had a meeting with the squatters on the site and they are actually on standby to move.

“Fortunately, the state government is putting a human face to all of these and efforts are being made to make their relocation as painless as possible for all; there is going to be a lot of movement but not as gruesome as the experiences of the past.”

During a brief presentation, Onyemenam gave an account of the project, its scope and size and the facilities that would be provided at the Computer Village.

He said when ready, the Katangowa project would be the biggest ICT Park in West Africa and would offer over 4,000 shops, incubators, accelerators, technology laboratories, exhibition halls, hotel, shopping plaza, industrial park, warehouses, Kee Klamps (small shopping shades), a helipad, malls, banking halls, parking lots, conference centre, food courts, security and power, and delivered in a carefully laid out plan to remove the chaos currently affecting the village in Ikeja.